Cyclists pack their gear at the Ride The Rockies campground in Ouray in 2010. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

As I woke in my sleeping bag at predawn to the call-and-response between zippers on tents and slamming doors on portable toilets at a campground during last year’s weeklong Ride The Rockies bicycle tour, I began to question my taste in vacations. The snoring from the tent to my left and the flatulence from the tent to my right then conspired to intensify my concerns. And as I maneuvered in my tent into something of a naked backward somersault to apply my cycling shorts, which were coated on the chamois with a cream the temperature and consistency of fresh gelato, I whispered to myself a vow: Never again, Ride The Rockies.

This go-round will be my eighth.

What changed my mind? I recalled that minor discomforts can lead to times of a lifetime along the open road by bicycle in Colorado’s majestic Rocky Mountains. I’ve compiled dozens of unforgettable experiences during seven previous tours: sights, sounds, new friendships, better friendships; I could go on and on.

In 2012, I asked a former colleague whether he was interested in running the Chicago Marathon. Two weeks later, he asked if I was interested in Ride the Rockies. I got a road bike, got on the tour, and have yet to regret it. This will be my third RTR.

Daniel Petty is the digital director of sports for The Denver Post. He competed in track and cross country all four years inc college, but that was six years ago. Now, he's doing Ride the Rockies for the first time.